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Behind the Scenes: Star Wars Illustration

Added 2025-01-22 08:42:05 +0000 UTC

I just love re-creating my favorite movie and TV moments through my weekly artworks. While striving for a particular technique or a new tool to try, it always makes it so much more enjoyable when I have a theme I really like.

As the new year kicked in, giving way to a bit of nostalgia just feels right and last year around this time, I did a Millennium Falcon diorama. For a huge Star Wars fan like me, it doesn't get much more nostalgic.

I thought the planet Hoth base from the second movie would make for a nice follow up and additionally, with the winter still on, snowy setting is a perfect match.

Visit the full Pinboard here

So how do you actually create a scene, that's recognizable at a first glance? First I had to get some references to refresh my memory. Few movie shots were enough to get mood and light reference, but there wasn't much to see in terms of the layout and equipment.

Luckily, there are always sources to get more info. The SW universe got countless expansions though things like book compendiums, comic books, or my favorite, LEGO sets. Whether it's official LEGO sets, or fan builds, there's always a lot of work that somebody already put into research. And they already come stylized and simplified!

As I move into a sketching process, I selected important bits and details, that I need to include. The central piece for the diorama is a control panel with a transparent glass display, showing some sort of a map. It's basically just few circles and lines on the projection, but that one bit is immediately recognizable.

The next important piece of the whole puzzle are materials and lighting. After spending few hours modeling everything in Blender of course. But all that work would be pointless, if I weren't be able to match the movie atmosphere. Enter the movie screenshots from the reference board.

I especially like the one with the rebels standing around the main display. Ice walls with the bright light coming from above, blue-ish cold ambience and that pinch of a red light coming from the panels and instruments. That final drop of red into the blue was exactly the scene needed to match the theme.

You can watch the full process video on Youtube.